Talk to the hand: Digital gatekeeper Evelyne Gebhardt

In her more than 23 years as an MEP, Evelyne Gebhardt has become one of the loudest and most uncompromising voices on future technology.

So Gebhardt’s habit of brushing off big business in favor of ordinary consumers means her candidacy for a vice president’s chair in the Parliament’s internal elections next week is sending tremors through the tech sector.

The bespectacled Franco-German leads the Socialists & Democrats group in the influential Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, which is shaping Parliament’s position on close to half of the initiatives to break down digital borders across Europe. Twice last year she ignored concerns from colleagues in her battle for higher levels of consumer protection for digital consumers, damaging relationships and angering the industry. Some tech industry lobbyists say she’s ignored their requests for meetings.

“Because she is strong in her beliefs, she finds it hard to compromise. This can make reaching a political agreement sometimes a long process,” said Dita Charanzová, a Czech MEP from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). Charanzová works with Gebhardt on digital issues on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, and her comments about Gebhardt’s obstinance echoed those of other MEPs and assistants.

If chosen as VP, her tech policy views and approach to parliamentary business could take on greater weight.

“I’m always ready to speak with people. My only restriction is that I don’t speak with lobbyists who aren’t in the Transparency Register.” — Evelyne Gebhardt

In a more prominent post, she said she aims to make Parliament’s work more visible as Europe moves towards populism and increasing skepticism of the European project.

“I am deeply committed to our European democracy and to its beating heart, the European Parliament. My highest priority is to further improve this unique democratic model and extend its bridges, instead of building separating walls,” she said.

‘Always ready to speak with people’

Walls are what some say define Gebhardt now, however: Digital lobbyists say she refuses to talk to them. More than a half-dozen lobbyists said the MEP had either declined meetings or never responded to their emails on key tech issues over roughly the past year. That’s despite her keen interest in all things digital.

“We tried to meet Evelyne Gebhardt on various occasions but she didn’t agree to the meetings. We draw no specific conclusion from this, except that at the moment she is not willing to meet the digital industry representatives,” said Damir Filipovic, a lobbyist at DigitalEurope, whose members include Google, Apple and Nokia.

Evelyne Gebhardt and Axel Voss during a JURI hearing | European Parliament

Gebhardt blamed scheduling conflicts.

“I’m always ready to speak with people,” she said. “My only restriction is that I don’t speak with lobbyists who aren’t in the Transparency Register.” (DigitalEurope is registered.)

Pressed further, her office said Gebhardt had met several member companies of DigitalEurope. “[She has] exchanged views directly with them at multiple instances and on a wide variety of subjects,” they said in a statement. “Among others, she met with Nokia, Microsoft and SAP. On top of that, DigitalEurope and its members approach her office with phone calls and position papers, which she takes into consideration when forming her point of view.”

Other digital lobbyists said she is responsive but largely because they have cultivated a relationship with her office over many years. One lobbyist speculated that she became more picky with her meetings after her husband’s death a few years ago.

If elected to one of the Parliament’s 14 vice president positions, Gebhardt would give up her coordinating role on the committee but maintain her leadership role on certain files. She has openly defied her co-rapporteur on digital consumer rules, Axel Voss, at times.

Their disagreement boils down to the length of legal guarantees. How long should customers have before they are no longer entitled to return items? The Commission and Voss say two years. But some countries allow returns of consumer goods like jeans or water bottles, for up tosix years.Gebhardt said no country should have to lower their standards, so six years should be the EU rule.

“Is a mutiny, rather than engaging in discussions, the way MEP Gebhardt is doing politics? I would have expected some more professionalism from a senior MEP,” said Belgian European People’s Party MEP Pascal Arimont. He is leading a report on a closely related file crafting new consumer rules for e-commerce.

Her approach suits others just fine.

“Every single MEP will try to speak to their own principles and proposals. But as long as she defends the consumer interests, it’s not bad if sometimes she is a bit stubborn,” said Agustín Reyna, the digital team leader at European consumer organization BEUC.

Fighting for workers

Born on the outskirts of Paris, Gebhardt’s father was an industrial chimney sweeper and her mother worked as a translator for Kodak.

“Things were not always easy because the family didn’t have much money,” she said in a 2005 interview. “But it was a happy childhood nonetheless.”

“I am frank. People know what to expect. Some might say, ‘I don’t agree with you at all, but you know what you want and I respect that.’” — Evelyne Gebhardt

Gebhardt was among the first in her family to attend university, earning a German language and culture degree at the Sorbonne. After that, she moved to the University of Tübingen, near Stuttgart, to continue studying German.

In Stuttgart, she did an internship at an audiovisual firm and met her husband, who later worked as an independent journalist and edited much of her press material, according to European Voice. He died a few years ago.

Gebhardt worked as a translator in different European cities for more than a decade. She struggled to get her work permit in Germany, where authorities didn’t recognize her French qualifications. These challenges propelled her toward German politics and fueled a desire to make it easier to work across Europe.

Her interest in politics — and her affiliation with German socialists — started in her early days in Germany. In 1975, she became a member of the country’s Social Democratic Party. She got her German citizenship in 1993 and a year later ran for European Parliament.

In her Brussels office, the desk is littered with reports in German and letters from other MEPs. No framed photographs, just a handful of Christmas cards and some calendars. Stacks of thick dictionaries — German to English, or simply German — and books line her shelves.

She championed workers’ rights on the long-disputed Services Directive in the mid-2000s, which helped companies like architects and retailers expand across borders. Gebhardt infuriated the European People’s Party and even the Commission by demanding foreign workers get paid the local wage.

“It was very controversial,” she said. “I even won an award from a European painters association.”

When Gebhardt ran for reelection in 2004, few thought she had a chance of winning against a more experienced male opponent. “I’ve always said that if you are a woman in politics you have to be twice as good as a man to make it to the same position,” she said.

At 62, nearing the Parliament’s typical retirement age, she shows no sign of mellowing. She didn’t respond to a question on whether she plans to retire.

“I am frank. People know what to expect,” she said. “Some might say, ‘I don’t agree with you at all, but you know what you want and I respect that.’”

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Sieuwke

“She championed workers’ rights…”
Well I would vote for that!

Posted on 1/13/17 | 9:06 AM CEST

Jay

I wouldn’t vote on a socialist, they’ve proven their incompetence enough. Besides, she listens only to lobbyists, not to people, or ‘how to efficiently fill my pockets’ and screw the people over. Again some more of the same old.

Posted on 1/13/17 | 10:07 AM CEST

simon

@ Jay: Did you even read the article? Politico is trying to blame her for not talking to Lobbyists enough. In my point of view it is respectable to stand for ones ideas and beliefs, people get elected for that and not for changing their values whenever a lobbyist comes along.
Ms Gebhardt’s strength against the influence of lobbyists is very respectable in my point of view and is a remarkable example that prooves that public’s perception of the “lobbyist controled EP” is in fact not true for all of its memebers.

In my perception Ms Plucinska tries to shift blame on Ms Gebhardt. Probably she got an extra payment by DigitalEurope for that article.
Suspecting connections to Gebhardts personal story, e.g. the death of her husband is so disrespectful.

Shame on you, Ms Plucinska! Fortunately your shaming did not influence the election for EP vice-presidents.